PATRIOTS: Belichick holds surprise interview session

By Mark Daniels Providence Journal

Monday

Mar 26, 2018 at 12:42 AM

No new revelations on Gronkowski, Butler and Brady.

ORLANDO, Fla. — As NFL owners, general managers and coaches converge in Orlando for the NFL’s Annual Meeting, plenty of questions linger about the Patriots and some star players. After coach Bill Belichick surprised the local media with an impromptu interview session on Sunday, those questions still remain.

Belichick spoke for about 15 minutes with a few reporters and took a deep dive into his love for scouting and offseason team building. When it came to the status of Rob Gronkowski, Tom Brady and the decision to bench Malcolm Butler in the Super Bowl, Belichick was less revealing.

The status of Gronkowski, who said he was contemplating retirement after Super Bowl LII, is still uncertain.

"Yeah, I’m not going to speak for anybody else,” Belichick said when asked about his tight end’s future. “Conversations I’ve had with the players, and I’ve had a lot of them, I’ll keep those private between myself and the player out of respect. … I don’t want to speak for anybody else.”

When asked whether the Patriots need to have a contingency plan in place in the event Gronk doesn’t come back, Belichick wouldn’t answer. “Yeah, I think I just covered that,” he responded.

Another big topic this offseason has been Butler. After the Pro Bowl cornerback didn’t play a single defensive snap in the Patriots' Super Bowl loss to the Eagles, many wondered — and plenty still do — exactly what happened?

It certainly doesn’t look like we’ll get any answers from Butler. After he inked a massive new contract with the Tennessee Titans, the cornerback took the high road. He told the Boston Herald that he couldn’t second guess Belichick after the coach put him in Super Bowl XLIX over veteran Kyle Arrington. Butler said similar pleasant things at his introductory press conference in Tennessee.

One thing Butler did note, however, was that he thought the coaching staff didn’t think he was locked in and 100 percent focused due to arriving to Minnesota late due to the flu. When asked if that was the reason for Butler's benching, Belichick stayed focused in the present.

“I have a lot of respect for Malcolm,” Belichick said. “From the day he got here in rookie minicamp four years ago, he’s always competed as hard as he could. He always has been a great competitor on the field and I totally respect that. I’m not going to get into last year. I’m not going to get into next year or some other year. I talked to Malcolm. I wished him well in Tennessee. Obviously, (Titans coach) Mike (Vrabel) and (GM) Jon (Robinson) are great people that I have a lot of respect for in that organization and I have a lot of respect for Malcolm. We wish him well.”

In addition to the Gronk and Butler storylines, there’s also Brady. Is the quarterback unhappy in Foxboro? Does he want to keep on playing until he’s 45 like he’s previously said? Some of that has been put in doubt after a rough season. In his final "Tom vs. Time" episode, Brady seemed conflicted about the future.

When it comes to his relationship with his starting quarterback, Belichick didn’t sound conflicted.

“I've had direct conversations with Tom, many times obviously through a long period of time,” Belichick said. “I'll rely on those conversations that I have with him directly rather than something else. Tom and I have always had a good line of communication. We've always been able to talk directly to each other. I don't see that changing. So, I'll rely on those instead of anything else.”